Marin Readers' Forum for Dec. 6

I have been following this issue for many years now, and I completely support Ken Salazar's decision to not renew the oyster farm lease for these reasons:

 When our local lawmakers fought incredibly hard in 1962 and again in 1976 (Point Reyes Wilderness Act) to get the Point Reyes peninsula established as a National Seashore in the first place, the oyster lease was an accommodation to an existing use and was never meant to be extended. The original intent, as stated in the legislation itself, of these incredibly foresightful people was for Drakes Estero to revert to wilderness status.

 If it becomes wild, as it should and was intended, it will be the only wild estero on the West Coast.

 There are several existing oyster growing companies nearby in Tomales Bay, a place much better suited for this type of aquaculture than in the middle of a national seashore and the only wild estero.

 The Lunny family and their employees knew that the lease would expire when they took the lease over from Johnson's Oyster Co. in 2004.

As was originally and thoughtfully intended, the jewel of Drakes Estero in the crown of Point Reyes is finally very close to being fully protected forever.

Kip Howard, Larkspur

Miwoks to oyster farmers

First the Miwoks, now the oyster farmers.

And no, it's not a stretch of an argument if you think like the extreme environmentalists who run California. Any "unsightly" human activity is a detriment to the environment or at least to the simulacrum they hold in their idealistic heads. Conquistadors had a vision for West Marin, so do these soft heads.

The problem with the oyster farm is that it's located too conveniently close to Marinites always on the lookout for an easy target. Going 60 miles offshore to international waters where foreign fleets are depleting the fish populations, killing dolphins and whales, shark-finning, gill-netting etc. is just too much hassle. Better to hop over the hill and mind someone else's business.

So, we have thin-skinned, intellectually dishonest sycophants who are safe from the travails endured by lower-income people who farm/harvest our food, work in fields, build our homes and the gadgets we put in them. The fact that 30 people have lost a poetic, close to nature, sustainable way of life that has benefited so many for 100 years is of no consequence to those supporting Ken Salazar's decision. The rhetoric about "saving the environment" is fully aided and abetted by this elitist attitude toward honest work. So much easier to drive your Prius to Whole Foods or the farmers market and demand that your food is "sourced."

Serge Gerlach, San Rafael

Good work, progressives

If you voted for Barack Obama, you voted to kill the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. and thousands of other small businesses. That's what progressives mean by "forward."

Geoffrey McNew, Novato

'Payback by the feds'

Friday's IJ carried a well written and timely editorial encouraging Marinites to patronize Marin's small retail businesses in contrast to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madhouses involving national chains. This effort will keep local doors open and preserve jobs.

In a huge irony, on page one of the same issue was news that the federal government ordered a shut down of the Drake's Bay Oyster Co., resulting in a disappearance of the type of local business we need to keep, plus a loss of 30 jobs, which will require many of them to leave the area or go on some sort of assistance.

Lost in all of this is obviously a clear payback by the feds to the environmentalists who supported the reelection of President Barack Obama with millions of dollars of contributions.

Credit, however, should be given here to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose efforts to save the company went unheeded.